Sexual harassment and assault: Industry examples

Due to the nature of the work, industry practices emerge, creating similar climates for employees working within the same industry because these climates are shaped by the characteristics in which they operate (Gordon, Reference Gordon1991). These industry characteristics can also influence the prevalence of sexual harassment. For example, sexual harassment and assault is pervasive in the hospitality industry (Abbott, Elkins, Phillips, & Madera, Reference Abbott, Elkins, Phillips and Madera2014; Johnson & Madera, Reference Johnson and Madera2018; Madera, Reference Madera2018) because it promotes and propagates the importance of service to the point where customers are empowered during customer–employee interactions, and can easily take advantage of the high service culture of the industry (Johnson & Madera, Reference Johnson and Madera2018). A study focusing on restaurant employees found that the majority of sexual harassment was perpetrated by customers (Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, 2014). In addition, women are more likely to work for men. For example, although the hospitality and service industry employ and rely on female employees for lower-level jobs, in 2016, women only held 5% of the executive positions in hotel companies in the United states. Last, the hospitality industry is a “looks” industry, in which employee physical attractiveness is emphasized, particularly for positions with frequent customer contact (Kusluvan, Kusluvan, Ilhan, & Buyruk, Reference Kusluvan, Kusluvan, Ilhan and Buyruk2010; Madera, Reference Madera2016). For example, Johnson, Kirk, and Keplinger (Reference Johnson, Kirk and Keplinger2016) found that sexual harassment was perceived as justified for women who were perceived to use their looks to get ahead at work.

Other industry examples include the medical and healthcare industry. For instance, nearly one-third of female clinician-researchers in academic medical institutions reported having experienced sexual harassment in the workplace (Jagsi et al., Reference Jagsi, Griffith, Jones, Perumalswami, Ubel and Stewart2016). Another study found that one-third of nurses have experienced physical assault, were bullied, or injured; as many as two-thirds were nonphysically assaulted; and a quarter were sexually harassed. The harasser is typically a patient, a patient’s family member or friend, or fellow staff members, which include physicians (Spector et al., Reference Spector, Coulter, Stockwell and Matz2007). Like the hospitality industry, women make up the majority of the workforce in the medical and healthcare industry, but men hold the majority of leadership positions, creating a gender imbalance of power and authority. Unlike the hospitality industry, the medical and healthcare industry also requires certain providers, such as nurses and social workers, to complete in-home visits, in which providers are isolated in private residential homes, making them vulnerable to harassment and assault by patients (Barling, Rogers, & Kelloway, Reference Barling, Rogers and Kelloway2001). This industry has very distinctive qualities because employees are instinctively trained to care for the well-being of others. In this struggle between compassion and professional duty, a climate develops that that can be misinterpreted by patients (Dougherty, Reference Dougherty2006). Opportunities for misconduct often occur due to physical proximity that takes place during a patient’s care.

The retail industry also has a high incident of sexual harassment and assault, second only to the hospitality industry (Good & Cooper, Reference Good and Cooper2016). Catering to customers, low wages and high turnover rates are industry characteristics that are often related to sexual harassment and assault in this particular industry (Yagil, Reference Yagil2008). The entertainment and sports media cultures are traditionally masculine, leading to characteristics that can also influence sexual harassment and assault climates. The sports media, specifically, has been the most male-dominated media department, and previous studies have found that nearly 85% of female sports reported surveyed stated sexual harassment is a chronic problem (Hardin & Shain, Reference Hardin and Shain2005). The locker-room mentality of sports often carries over to the newsroom, creating an unfriendly and hostile work environment for female employees.

Address industry characteristics in training

What does this mean for sexual harassment and sexual assault training? As we outlined using a variety of industry examples, the work context of an industry can create environments where sexual harassment and assault are more prevalent than other industries. An industry can create a mindset toward sexual harassment and assault, which can influence pretraining motivation, perceived utility, and self-efficacy. The entertainment industry provides an example of how sexual harassment and sexual assault were ignored and covered up by top executives. TV personalities such as Bill Cosby, Charlie Rose, and Matt Lauer and executives such as Les Moonves and Harvey Weinstein had a long history of sexual harassment and/or sexual assault that were ignored until the #MeToo movement shed a light into this problem. An industry can also set priorities. In an effort to change the industry mindset toward sexual harassment and assault, the National Restaurant Association and the American Hotel and Lodging Association are making sexual harassment and assault a priority by offering training and resources for members to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and assault. These associations are the two largest industry associations in hospitality, representing over 380,000 restaurants and over 25,000 hotel members across the U.S., respectively.

Thus, we argue that sexual harassment and sexual assault training should also consider the unique characteristics of an industry into their training design, implementation, and evaluation. For example, sexual harassment and sexual assault training for the hospitality industry might need to address the responsibility that managers have in addressing sexual harassment from customers, the role that alcohol plays in customers’ aggression, and how employees should manage sexual harassment and assaults by customers. For hotels, training might include how housekeepers and other room service employees should handle harassment or assaults that can occur in hotel rooms. Training might also involve how managers can restructure teams and/or schedules to minimize situations in which employees are isolated in hotel rooms. Training for the medical and healthcare industry should include how providers can respond to harassment and assault from patients. Moreover, training should also address how managers should respond to these types of incidents that involve their employees and patients.

Training scenarios or examples used in training, whether written or in video, should reflect the workplace to increase content relevance. For instance, if a training scenario in which sexual harassment occurs in a typical office space is used, how relevant will the training be for restaurant and hotel employees or nurses who do not work in offices, or for healthcare providers who primarily conduct home visits? In this example, employees from these industries might have a hard time perceiving the training as relevant, which can affect training transfer. As another example of industry characteristics, alcohol is served in most restaurants and hotels. Hospitality employees, particularly in restaurants, report high rates of heavy drinking and problems related to serving alcohol (Broome & Bennett, Reference Broome and Bennett2011). Thus, sexual harassment and assault training would also include training employees how to manage coworkers and customers who may be inebriated. Training for the entertainment and sports news media industry should include scenarios and training examples of “locker-room” climates (Hardin & Shain, Reference Hardin and Shain2005).

Another example of how an industry matters is related to the evaluation of training. For instance, a training program for the hospitality industry might need to incorporate customer behaviors or at least how managers and employees respond to customer-based harassment and assault. A recent study found that hotel managers were less likely to identify behaviors as sexual harassment when the perpetrator was a customer than a coworker (Madera, Guchait, & Dawson, Reference Madera, Guchait and Dawson2018). Patients are often the source of sexual harassment and assault in the medical and healthcare industry, mostly during routine patient care, often leading to not identifying behaviors as sexual harassment by the healthcare provider (Bronner, Peretz, & Ehrenfeld, Reference Bronner, Peretz and Ehrenfeld2003). Thus, measures of knowledge and attitudes toward sexual harassment should include incidents stemming from customers (for hospitality and retail industry) or patients (for the healthcare and medical industry) in addition to the typical coworker-to-coworker scenario. Other outcomes measures might include incident reports that occur well after the training to assess whether employees and managers responded as trained.